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Briefly in the news in Aotearoa’s political economy around housing, poverty and climate:

* The Lead: Without warning, consultation or a permanent Governor in place, the Reserve Bank yesterday loosened mortgage lending restrictions in a way that will increase house prices, accelerate sales activity and turbo-charge the residential industrial complex that has become the economy’s main driver.

* The Sidebar: The Reserve Bank justified the move, which was welcomed by the Government and landlords, as possible now because house prices had fallen to ‘sustainable’ levels. It views ‘sustainable’ as a level unlikely to trigger a crash, rather than affordable relative to incomes.

* The Number of the Day: 16% is the share of owner-occupier and rental property investor lending the Reserve Bank expects to be at a Loan to Value Ratio (LVR) of over 80% after the loosening of the rules. That is up from 13% currently and would be higher than at any time in 11 years.

* The Chart of the Day: Where the Reserve Bank thinks ‘sustainable’ house prices are.

* Quote of the day: “Luxon is now a drag on the brand rather than an asset to it.” The Post-$ after publishing a poll showing PM Christopher Luxon’s net favourability rating was -24%, vs -10% for the National Party.

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Going for Growth, Growth, Growth. In house prices